Half-Life: Alyx

Half-Life: Alyx is a story-driven first-person shooter built entirely for virtual reality. You control Alyx Vance in a city occupied by the Combine and solve fights and puzzles through direct interaction with objects. The campaign is a single-player adventure and part of the Half-Life series story.

Instead of classic keyboard controls, you use VR controllers to grab ammo, open drawers and handle tools. A VR headset is required.

Half-Life: Alyx came out on March 23, 2020 for PC VR via Steam. In September 2026, Valve released a native ARM64 version for Steam Frame. Since then, the game can also be launched on this headset without a connected gaming PC.

The standalone Steam Frame version keeps the campaign and game content. The new version mainly changes the technical basis of the graphics.

On PC, Half-Life: Alyx runs with SteamVR and compatible VR headsets. Valve lists Windows as the original platform. Since the Steam Frame expansion, a standalone ARM64 version for Valve's VR headset is also available.

A connected headset without VR tracking does not replace the required VR controls. Steam Frame can run the game either locally or stream it from a PC. The PC version and standalone mode are different technical modes of the same game.

In Half-Life: Alyx, you explore rooms, look for ammo and healing items, and fight Combine soldiers and alien enemies. Cover and free hand movements are part of the combat system: you can lean behind obstacles, pick up objects on purpose and use them as distractions.

Many situations combine exploration with hands-on work. You can open cabinets, find supplies among everyday objects, and technical interfaces need their own tools.

Half-Life: Alyx offers the chance to play extra environments and player-made maps via Steam Workshop and the Source 2 tools. Valve provides the Hammer level editor for this.

A separately available soundtrack covers the music from all eleven chapters. The music is not an extra campaign chapter.

For the PC version, Steam lists at least Windows 10 64-bit, an Intel Core i5-7500 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600, 12 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580 with 6 GB VRAM. A SteamVR-compatible headset is required.

Extra performance can be especially useful at high resolution and VR refresh rates. For standalone play on Steam Frame, the PC graphics card requirements do not apply as a direct requirement.

Half-Life: Alyx takes place in the occupied City 17. Beneath the growing Citadel, the Combine control the population. Alyx and Eli Vance investigate their enemies underground, gather information and try to strengthen the resistance.

The adventure does not necessarily require knowledge of the other games, but its connection to the Half-Life world adds extra context.

Half-Life: Alyx uses spatial hand controls for most of its actions. You search shelves, grab medical syringes, operate weapons and defuse obstacles with tools. The environment is therefore more than a backdrop: objects can be moved deliberately and used in fights.

The game supports both controllers with finger tracking and conventional VR controllers with trigger buttons.

Half-Life: Alyx can be played standing, seated or with roomscale VR. For movement, there is teleportation, a short blink and continuous movement via analog stick.

This selection makes it easier to adjust to the available space and your own tolerance for movement in VR. Which setting is most comfortable depends on personal preference.

Since September 14, 2026, Half-Life: Alyx supports standalone play on Steam Frame. Valve ported the game to ARM64 for this and reworked key parts of the engine, without swapping out any campaign content.

The standalone version uses gaze-dependent foveated rendering and depth reprojection. Alternatively, Steam Frame can wirelessly stream the version rendered on a PC. Valve also offers a redemption of the game when you first log in to Steam on Steam Frame.

Since October 26, 2026, Half-Life: Alyx can also use foveated rendering on supported desktop PCs. The option is in the advanced performance settings. This concentrates processing power more on the visible or focused part of the image.

For DirectX, Valve lists Nvidia cards from the GTX 16 and RTX 20 series onward. AMD graphics cards require starting with Vulkan. A headset with eye tracking can make better use of the technology. Valve does not promise a guaranteed performance boost for every hardware.

Through the Steam Workshop you can use community-made scenarios and environments. Valve provides tools based on Source 2, including Hammer for creating your own levels.

The Workshop is therefore a lasting way to expand beyond the main story. Which maps and changes work well with your own VR hardware depends on the individual mod.

Half-Life: Alyx offers a German user interface and German subtitles. According to Steam, full voice acting is available in English. Other subtitle languages can be selected.

Steam also lists subtitles as a standalone accessibility feature. The locomotion options and support for seated play expand the control options.